


they will call you foolish

by aprilclash



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Consent Issues, Dubious Consent, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Smut, Incubus Minghao sucks at this whole seduction thing, M/M, Mingyu is easily seduced, Oral Sex, Somnophilia, this is mostly rated fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 03:45:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7205936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aprilclash/pseuds/aprilclash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mingyu is eighteen years old and he's the fourth most powerful Demon Master of the country. His life is perfect. Mingyu is twenty-three years old and he lives in a little flat with a bratty half-blood Incubus. They struggle to make ends meet, fight every day and have a lot of make-up sex. Mingyu's life is still perfect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	they will call you foolish

**Author's Note:**

> So I was writing a fic and I realized the gyuhao side story was taking up too much space, so I decided to write them their own fic.  
> -Tagging dubcon and consent issues for lack of an explicit agreement before a somnophilia scene (the consent is only implied).  
> -The timeline might be confusing, but they're both eighteen years old when they meet.  
> -This piece is not a standalone, it was meant to be part of a bigger verse and a bigger story, so not everything might be explained here.  
> -It's also sadly unbetaed, because my beta is busy and not into Seventeen at all (tears_emoji.gif).  
> -The title is a quote from Euripides' Bacchæ.  
> -Twitter user @yaori94 decided to draw [this amazing fanart and also a bit risqué fanart](https://twitter.com/yaori94/status/743555667701686273) inspired by this fic and I'll forever be grateful ;;  
> I think that's all, enjoy~

Mingyu seals his first demon when he’s five years old. It’s just a soot spirit, a dirty little parasite that makes its nest under the ashes of the hearth and steals power from the scalding embers to survive. Calling it a demon is a bit of an overstatement, but Mingyu’s grand-grandfather throws a party and calls all the heads of the other, like, six families in the Three Countries who’re in the demon mastery business to tell them that _our little Mingyu did it, he sealed a demon, only five years old, can you imagine it?_

The little demon lives with Mingyu for a big total of five days before it turns into ashes and Mingyu cries for an entire week, ignoring his parents attempts at teaching him that it’s normal, that soot spirits don’t live more than a few weeks. Mingyu didn’t know and he cared about the spirit enough to give it a name and cry when it’s gone. He only stops when his older cousin comes to visit a few days later and teases him for being such a crybaby.

“What is wrong with you? Demons are tools, not fucking pets.”

She’s not supposed to swear, but she does it anyway because she’s Grandfather’s favorite and no one would ever believe Mingyu if he ratted on her.

Jinah is eleven years old and she’s older and taller than Mingyu. She goes to the Academy, she has already received her initiation as a Demon Master. She has her own demon, not a soot spirit like Mingyu’s, but a powerful Agma with long legs and dark eyes, a spirit of the fire named Jungah. She didn’t defeat Jungah herself, she only received her seal, but she can control a demon despite her young age and Mingyu’s eyes widen in awe and maybe a little bit of jealousy.

“Grandfather gave her to me because he said I must learn to control powerful demons if I want to become the next head of the family,” says Jinah to Mingyu’s stunned face, and he protests because it’s not fair, he too wants a powerful demon and the chance to become the next head of the family.  
The following day, he visits his father’s studio and says he wants to become a Demon Master, like Jinah, like Father and Grandfather and Grand-grandfather. So they teach him.

Mingyu’s career as a Demon Master starts with slow, unsure baby steps. He struggles with the theoretical part, the long explanations, the meticulous details written in tiny, precise letter on the frail, decaying pages of old books. The magic spells look complicated on paper, convoluted swirls of words and runes that seem impossible to memorize. Mingyu envies Jinah, who can cast them without looking at the book.

Grandfather tells Mingyu not to worry. A Demon Master doesn’t need to also be a good Crafter. He only needs his seals, and those are carved into his skin, never to be forgotten. One seal to speak Wickedtongue, the language of the demons. One seal to sense the presence of a demon nearby. One seal to shield the wearer from demon possession. One seal for strength, one for night vision. So many of them. And the last one, the most important, the Family Seal. The seal that binds the will of the demons to the will of the master. “Demon mastery is not the kind of magic you can learn by following the books. You have to be born into it and you, Mingyu, are born in the most powerful clan of Demon Masters of the Three Countries. Your first hunt will prove it to you and to everyone else.”

Mingyu’s grandfather is right. After his first hunt, it becomes clear that he has talent, just like his father, his grandfather and his grand-grandfather before him. The family seals, tattooed on his back and hips, on his forearms and wrists like bracelet of magic, come to him naturally, glowing softly on his skin when he summons them. At the end of the day, Mingyu is the master of three demons. 

He doesn’t give them names this time. No attachment, no involvement. _Demons are tool, not fucking pets,_ had said Jinah. Mingyu’s demons call him _master_ and the thought makes him giggle. He’s only ten years old and he’s already this strong. He feels proud.

Mingyu is not and he will never be a good Crafter, even after he’ll start attending the Academy. His magic is too weak and he doesn’t have the patience to make up for the lack of Crafting talent with hard work. He never takes the time to learn how to hold a sword and fight with it either, but it doesn’t matter to him because he has demons who can do anything he asks. He has his seals, invisible under the clothes, ready to come to life. He has the power to summon Devourers, fortune gods and water nymphs, even a fucking Behemoth if he wants, demons he hunted and sealed himself. His demons.

Father is proud. Grandfather is even prouder. Jinah grits her teeth and does her best, but Mingyu is not five years old anymore. He’s eighteen, the fourth most powerful Demon Master of the country, (the second in terms of how many demons are actually under his control) and the most probable next head of the family. Mingyu’s life is perfect.

-

Mingyu wakes up with a startle and a choked moan. He feels impossibly hot and breathless, and for a moment he thinks it’s because of the weather, the torrid, sultry wave of humidity that hits the South before the rain season and makes children of the North like him sweat and complain loudly. It’s not the weather. It can’t possibly be the weather, he realizes, as his sleepy brain short-circuits, overloaded by the sudden onslaught of sensation. He moans again, his hips jerking helplessly into warm, wet heat and oh, _oh_ , he knows what it is.

“Minghao,” he tries to whisper, but it comes out is an incoherent whine as Minghao’s mouth slides on his cock slowly, gingerly, savoring the moment. Mingyu writhes on the bed and his hips jump up again, out of his control, fucking into Minghao’s mouth in a way that would be totally rude if Mingyu wasn’t sure Minghao really really likes it. Even when he stops to breathe, Mingyu can feel the ghost of his lips around his cock. In the complete darkness of the room, Minghao’s touch leaves behind a pulse of pleasure, like a stone falling into a pond. Every sensation lingers, reverberates on Mingyu’s skin in an electric shiver. 

Minghao enjoys giving head in a way Mingyu will never be able to understand. And he’s good, undeniably good. His pretty little mouth takes all of Mingyu, again, and he hollows his cheeks as he goes up, and then down again, panting, wet and raspy, around Mingyu’s cock. He doesn’t gag - he would never gag, but he smiles. It’s too dark to see anything but Mingyu knows he’s smiling, and he’s too fucked up right now to conjure a light spell but the need to look at Minghao’s face strikes him like thunder during a summer storm.

“Minghao,” he tries again, “it’s dark.”

Minghao makes light for him, tiny speckles of gold flying around their faces like fireflies at his call. Mingyu groans when he finally sees him. It’s too early for this, for the unfairness, for the way Minghao looks between Mingyu’s legs, down-casted eyes, sweaty bangs, the shadow of his eyelashes curled on his cheekbones, black against golden skin. Mingyu groans, feeling desperate and so close to coming it hurts. He tries to fuck Minghao’s mouth again, but tiny hands tickle his sides before digging sharp claws into his hips to keep them down as Minghao gives Mingyu’s cock another long, sultry lick. He lets it go with a loud, wet noise, allowing Mingyu a moment to close his eyes and regain some sort of composure.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he asks, when he trusts his voice enough to talk.

Minghao pouts. “Hungry.”

He says it in human language, stumbling over the syllables as he licks his lips. He could’ve said it in Wickedtongue and Mingyu would’ve gotten it anyway, but they both know Mingyu is a goner for Minghao speaking human, for the way his tongue struggles around all the foreign sounds his tongue never learnt how to make when he was a child, and then he scrunches his nose in annoyance, and he’s cute, he’s the cutest. And Minghao likes when Mingyu finds him cute.

“You should’ve told me,” Mingyu says, still panting, breathless. Minghao’s hand has returned on his cock again, pumping it slowly. “That you were hungry.”

“I thought you liked surprises,” Minghao says, shrugging. In the half-light, it’s not easy to see the wicked glint in his eyes, but Mingyu is an expert at reading his demon and the fake innocence in his voice. “I really love surprises,” he adds, and kneels between Mingyu’s legs again, kisses the tip of his cock demurely, barely a brush of lips. Mingyu wants nothing more than to lean his head back on the pillow, relax and just let Minghao work his magic, but he can’t watch away from the lewd show Minghao is putting on for him, opening his lips and letting his tongue dart out to catch a bead of precum.

“Mingyu?” he asks, his long lashes fluttering as he mouths at Mingyu’s dick.

“What.”

“Do you know what Incubus mean?”

Mingyu sighs. “Is this really the moment?”

“Do you know?” insists Minghao, and there’s teasing and _teasing_ and Mingyu doesn’t want to play Minghao’s games. 

“I never really paid attention in class so I don’t know.”

Minghao snorts. “Liar.” He goes down again, scraping Mingyu with the tiniest hint of teeth.

“Minghao!” he warns. Minghao chuckles, flashing his white and pointy teeth at Mingyu. “It means nightmare. The first demons of my kind seduced people in their sleep.”

“Your point, exactly?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I just wanted to seduce you in your sleep.”

Now it’s Mingyu’s time to snort. “It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”

It’s becoming difficult to restrain himself from just carding his fingers on Minghao’s head and pushing it back on his dick. Minghao wouldn’t mind, he’s only waiting for it, waiting for Mingyu to snap and fuck him until they’re both silly from it. Mingyu wouldn’t mind it either.

Minghao never answers his question. He closes his eyes, nuzzles Mingyu’s cock and fondles his balls, slowly, lazily, staring as if to capture the image of Mingyu losing everything in front of him.

“Take me in your mouth again… Please,” Mingyu asks, and it’s not fair _it’s not fair_ , that he is the only one who’s begging, mouth open in a broken groan when Minghao finally guides his dick between his own lips.

It’s fast and hurried, like they don’t they have time, like they’re doing something they shouldn’t do. (Mingyu used to feel like that, back when they started fooling around and the thought of doing something wrong only fueled his desire. It was before he started to feel being with Minghao is the only right thing in his life.)

Minghao hollows his cheeks and sucks, wet and hot around Mingyu’s cock until Mingyu can see white even in the dark room. His skin tingles and magic storms inside his veins as the pressure builds up, hot white, burning, like a supernova on the brink of explosion. He spills in Minghao’s mouth, hands clawing at his head to keep him there where Mingyu needs him.

He’s expecting the recoil, the explosion in his stomach turning into a black hole of emptiness as Minghao steals his magic. The loss of power still hits like a stab in the stomach and he falls back, completely spent.

Minghao licks his lips and then kisses Mingyu’s cheek, all sweet and gross, murmuring a polite, “Thanks for the meal.”

“Just come here, I’m so tired.”

Minghao’s face appears in front of him. It might only be Mingyu’s delusional mind, or maybe it’s the fact that he’s just absorbed all of Mingyu’s magic, but Minghao looks so soft like this, with his skin glowing and stars twinkling in his eyes. He hides his face in the curve between Mingyu’s shoulder and neck while he waits for Mingyu to regain his breath.

“So, what was that for?”

Minghao feigns innocence, but Mingyu knows his demon and he knows that Minghao only acts like this, out of impulse, when he’s either really worried or really grateful. He doesn’t remember doing anything out of the ordinary for him, nor he’s given him reasons to be worried.

“What’s wrong, Hao?” he asks, pushing Minghao’s sweaty bangs out of his face. He touches his face, traces the sweet curve of his lips until they fall open for him. Minghao closes his eyes, relaxing in Mingyu’s arms like a big cat. The seal on Mingyu’s palm burns and he knows Minghao’s must be burning too.

“You were dreaming about your home, your family,” Minghao replies, after a long silence. “I felt it through the this.” He raises his hands, shoves the rune in Mingyu’s face and Mingyu’s heart drops in his chest. He never talks about his family with Minghao because he doesn’t want him to feel uncomfortable, but Minghao is smart and he always knows when something is wrong.

“My grand-grandfather died yesterday,” he says, in the end. “Seungcheol was the one who told me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” It’s not like Minghao can understand what Mingyu is feeling. From what Mingyu has studied, in demon society it is perfectly acceptable for a father to eat his sons if they’re not strong enough to prevent it. Demons don’t really understand the concept of family and loss of a dear one. Minghao doesn’t understand why Mingyu is sad, but he can feel his grief through their bond.

“Don’t be sorry, he was an asshole.”

He plays with Minghao’s hair, scratching at his nape and smiling when Minghao scoots closer and manhandles them both so they’re lying together in the most uncomfortable position, a puzzle of tangled limbs. He sighs, leaning against Mingyu, looking for comfort in the closeness of their bodies, as if he’s feeling unsure. Mingyu feels guilty because it’s his fault, for hiding things from Minghao and making him worry.

“I dreamed of when I was young. When I lived with my family,” he offers, trying to ease Minghao’s discomfort.

“Do you miss them?”

He does. He misses Jinah’s insufferable face. He misses his mother and his father sometimes. He doesn’t miss the whole clan of uncles and aunts, all accompanied by their demons, silent and serious and ready to lash during family fights. He doesn’t miss his grand-grandfather, nor his grandfather, but sometimes he misses the feeling of self-accomplishment their praises ignited in him. Mingyu liked to be important and he liked to belong. But Mingyu likes Minghao and he likes to belong to Minghao. Considering that he can’t have both things, he likes to belong to Minghao more than he ever liked to be part of the family.

“I’m just angry. They didn’t even tell me the old man died. I had to know from Seungcheol, of all people.”

“I’m sorry,” says Minghao again, and maybe he doesn’t understand what a family is, but he knows the feeling of giving up something and he definitely knows what Mingyu gave up to be with him. Mingyu wishes he could collect all his sad thoughts and lock them away. He doesn’t want Minghao to ever feel guilty, or not worthy, again. In the end, he just sighs, arms tightening around his lover until the Minghao pinches him.

“Ouch! What was that for?”

“You’re thinking silly things again.”

“I’m not,” he says, trying to retaliate by pinching Minghao back, but the demon is stronger and faster. He pins Mingyu down and pinches him again until Mingyu is shrieking and begging for mercy.

“No mercy. Stop lying to me. I can feel it through this.” He shakes his palm in front of Mingyu’s nose where the seal shines quietly, its twin burning Mingyu’s hand at the same time. “I hate when you hide things from me because you think I could get hurt. I’m strong enough.”

“Then you stop saying you’re sorry. My family wanted me to get rid of you, I don’t ever want you to feel sorry because of them.”

“I am a demon, it’s only normal that they want to...”

“You are _my_ demon. I chose you. And I won’t ever summon anyone else as long as I have you.”

Minghao tenses against him.

“It’s not like I care about who you summon.”

His voice is firm but their bond shakes and betrays his obvious lie. Mingyu still remembers what happened the last time he summoned another demon and Minghao was jealous and angry and downright murderous for weeks. He’s not eager to repeat the experience again.

“You care as much as I care about who you fuck when I’m not around, so we’re even.”

Minghao kicks him, hard.

“Come on, get up and make yourself some breakfast, I stole a lot of your magic so you should eat.”

“Can’t you make it for me? Come on, come on Hao.”

The demon kicks him again. “I can’t cook and I won’t learn today. Get up. Get. Up.”

He kicks him until they both fall from the bed, an ungraceful, flailing mess of arms, legs and sheets, and Mingyu kisses him senseless on the floor just because he can, before he goes to make breakfast.

-

Mingyu is twenty-one years old when he closes the door of the house where he grew up for the last time and leaves his family behind.

There are talks, before he takes this decision. Many talks, and fights too. About decency, about responsibilities, about the honor of the family. About tradition. Mingyu’s father shouts. Mingyu’s grandfather threatens. His grand-grandfather doesn’t say anything, he only stares at Mingyu with contempt and disgust in his eyes, maybe even a veil of disbelief.

Demons are tools, not pets, they all say. Mingyu doesn’t use either of the words. He says lover, and his grandmother faints. One of his uncles suggests to just let him be. He’s not the first human who takes a demon companion and he will not be the last.

“The kid will get tired of it or the demon will try to betray him.”

“But an impure demon!” cries Mingyu’s mother. Of course, if Minghao had been an Agma, or a fucking Abyssal Lord, they would’ve let this slide more easily. But it’s Minghao, whose mother was a Succubus and whose father was a Crossroad Demon. Minghao, half-blood and pretty, with his mother’s lovely mouth and eyes and his father’s habit to fuss at everything.

“How can you love something you own?” asks Jinah in a low voice. “How can you talk about love after you fucking put your seal on him?”

“I didn’t,” says Mingyu.

“How come you didn’t? You said lover, are you already going back on your-”

“No,” he stops her. “I wasn’t talking about that. I was talking about the seal. I didn’t. I never put any seal on him.”

A glacial silence falls on the room as everyone processes the new information, looking at Mingyu with something akin to horror in their eyes. And that’s when hell breaks loose.

In the end, they will say he was kicked out of the family as a consequence to his immature, unacceptable behavior that put the entire clan at risk. He’s stripped of his seals - they’re not his, they belong to the family and he’s not part of that, not anymore - and he loses all his demons. He only mourns the loss of the spell that allowed him to speak and understand Wickedtongue, but he doesn’t care. Minghao is learning human language pretty fast, just for him. 

Minghao, Minghao. Minghao. He savors the name in his mouth and it tastes just like Minghao’s lips and the soft skin of his palm where Mingyu likes to lay kisses and sweet words Minghao can’t quite understand. Not yet.

The truth is Mingyu is not kicked out. They ask him to stay, because Mingyu is strong and talented and he was raised to become the next head of the family. They beg him to stay - he can keep his little demon whore if he wants, as long as he puts his seal on him, as long as no one else knows, as long as - and that’s when Mingyu walks away, on his own. No regrets.

-

The demon boy is tall, fierce, stubborn and unexpectedly soft. He’s not pretty, like most of the Incubi are, and he’s not irresistible. That’s a privilege of high class, pureblood demons, like Agmas, who can make any human fall to their knees with a single, lingering gaze. No, this kid is just a sewer rat, pure but half-blood and low-class. His mother was a Succubus, but he’s... He doesn’t really look like an Incubus, but he assures Mingyu he feeds exactly like one, stealing magic through sex, and he looks offended when Mingyu doubts his words.

He’s gangly, but graceful, and he has a mean tongue. He sucks at the whole seduction thing, but Mingyu likes him anyway, from the first moment this thin demon, more bones than meat, more anger than magic, falls on his arms during a hunt.

He’s young and scared and it’s clear it’s his first time on this side of the Veil and it’s his first time trying to seduce someone. Mingyu is young and powerful and it would take less than a snap of his fingers to summon one of his demons and eliminate the cute Incubus kid, but Mingyu is also curious. This is his first time meeting an Incubus and the boy is pretty and endearing and he clearly doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he grits his teeth and hides his restlessness behind snarky words. When he falls to his knees in front of Mingyu and unties his belt, Mingyu lets him.

Mingyu lets him do a lot of things. He doesn’t complain when the young demon runs away with all of Mingyu’s magic the night of their first, awkward encounter and he doesn’t complain when the demon appears again in front of him or when he starts seeing Mingyu on a weekly basis. He doesn’t mind being used as a midnight snack if he thinks about the sex he’s going to receive in return. He can’t really complain when the demon- when _Minghao_ follows him home, not after being the one who suggested it. (After all, it made much more sense for the kid to have a place to stay, the world was cold and scary and he was just a defenseless impure demon.) It’s not important that Minghao drains of all Mingyu’s magic every time they kiss and it’s not important that Minghao doesn’t really know how to kiss. Mingyu doesn’t know either, but they can learn together. (Minghao, apparently, is a natural, and it’s part unfair and part thrilling how fast he’s learning to be good at this stuff.)

One night, as they lay down in bed, Minghao asks him why.

“Why what?” Mingyu says, feeling stupid and satisfied, basking in the post-orgasm bliss.

“Why am I here? Why haven’t you banished me behind the Veil or killed me or...”

Minghao has the annoying ability to always ask the right questions at the wrong time and Mingyu has the even more annoying ability to give the wrong answers at the right time.

“I don’t need to kill you. You’re not dangerous.”

Minghao growls, low in his throat, and Mingyu regrets the choice of his words. Minghao is not powerful, but he is dangerous. He’s also a bit sensitive, he gets touchy when someone underestimate him. It comes from growing up among demons much more powerful than he is.  
Mingyu feels him tense and he tries to stop the inevitable fight that will ensue.

“Come on, Hao, don’t be like this, you know I didn’t-”

He can’t finish the sentence because Minghao is already on him, pinning him down with his weight as he straddles him, lowering his fangs until they’re tickling Mingyu’s skin.

“Call your other demons,” he hisses, Wickedtongue falling in angry, murky waves on Mingyu’s ears. “Call them and let’s see if I’m not dangerous.”

And Mingyu is terrified, for a moment, because he’s the best at playing with fire without burning himself, but there’s always a first time for failure. He repeats the summoning spell in his head, but then he picks up the hint of jealousy in Minghao’s voice, next to the anger, hidden under layer after layer of his impossible attitude. Minghao is _jealous_.

“I won’t call them,” he says, stubbornly. “You’re not dangerous. Not to me,” he adds, when Minghao’s eyes flash in mute fury.

“I could kill you,” threatens Minghao.

“You wouldn’t,” insists Mingyu.

They look at each other. Mingyu just looks at this demon - he can’t call Minghao one of his demons because he never put his seal on him, he never even thought about it, but at the same time Minghao is _his_ demon. He’s the one who lives with him and learns human language just for him, the one who told Mingyu his real name, the one who stayed. Mingyu just looks at Minghao and hopes Minghao can see the truth in his eyes.

Minghao curses softly and lets him go. He rolls on the bed in all his naked glory, screaming his frustration in the pillow.

“I can’t believe it. I seduced you.”

“Excuse me. I seduced you first.”

“How can you be so stupid?” he exhales. “Do you realize how dangerous it is, letting an Incubus sleep with you and feed off your magic?”

“Well, because following a demon hunter home is the safest thing you did.”

Minghao ignores the obvious jab.

“Look, I’m a Crafter. I have enough magic to keep you alive. I want to keep you alive and out of danger.”

Minghao turns towards him, suddenly wary. “I won’t be like one of your puppets, ready to come and go at your beck and call. I won’t let you do something like that to me.”

Mingyu is almost tempted. He’s one of the best Demon Masters of the country. He could probably seal Minghao and put his runes on him even now, without having to get up from the bed. Then, Minghao wouldn’t be able to leave him ever again.

“I don’t want you to be one of my puppets. I want you to kiss me again. Will you do that for me, Hao?”

Minghao’s actions are cautious, but the wariness melts away like the snow in April when Mingyu cradles his face in his hands and kisses him, just kisses him.

-

It’s not easy.

Without the support and the name of a clan of Demon Masters, without seals, without demons, without money, Mingyu doesn’t have anything.

“You have me.”

Minghao looks unfazed, but he’s not the one who needs to find a job in order to eat since he already has a personal supply of walking food. Mingyu calls him mean and reminds him that, without a job and money, he’ll starve and then Minghao will have no other choice than starve too.

“Who says that? I can always seduce some other fool like you.”

Mingyu splutters. There’s so much _wrong_ in Minghao’s statement he doesn’t even now where to start and in that split moment of hesitation Minghao laughs at him and says, “Ah, you can’t even answer. I’ve won this, Mingyu-ya.” Which, of course, leads to a weak fight that ends in a lot of angry sex. Well, Mingyu is pretending to be angry, Minghao is just smug and obnoxious.

Mingyu ends up at his best friend’s door, begging for hospitality and comfort. Junhui sighs and silently judges him, but eventually he takes them in and even puts in a good work for them with his boss and that’s how Mingyu finds a job at the Southern Guild. He doesn’t have his family Seals anymore, so he’s not a real Demon Master, but Seungcheol doesn’t care.

“You don’t learn demon mastery, you can only be born into it. And you, Mingyu, were born into it.” He remembers those words. Back then they felt like a blessing, now they fall like mockery on Mingyu’s shoulders.

He comes back home alone that night. Minghao has left, back into his demon world on the other side of the Veil. Family business, he said, and Mingyu didn’t pry. He never told Minghao what happened with his family, but he knows Minghao can guess. He didn’t ask any question though, respecting Mingyu’s privacy, so Mingyu won’t ask either.

Junhui’s house is tiny and neat, surrounded by charms and spells to keep it soundproofed and peaceful. “The whispers of the Veil are noisy enough, I don’t need kids screaming their lungs out or couples fighting,” says Junhui every time Mingyu complains that it’s eerie.

Junhui is a Whisperer of the Veil, a Crafter who draws his magic from the magical barrier that separates the human world from the other one (the parallel dimension where demons live, the place where Minghao came from.) Junhui’s magic is not strong, but he’s one of the most talented Crafters the Academy has ever raised. And Mingyu is one of the strongest, most talented Demon Masters his family has ever raised.

So he collects his courage and prepares his best smile before he knocks on Junhui’s door. He doesn’t wait for Junhui to answer before he’s invading his bedroom.

Junhui sees right through him, like he always does.

“What do you want, Mingyu?” he asks, with a pained expression, bracing himself for the worse.

“Hyung, I need your help. I want to create my own seal.”

Junhui doesn’t refuse, but he doesn’t accept either. He sends Mingyu to bed and he hopes Mingyu just forgets about it, but Mingyu doesn’t relent. 

Minghao comes home a few days later and finds both of them hunched around the first drafts of a seal. He looks at them closely, steals suspicious, dark glances at the rune they’re trying to create, but he doesn’t say anything until he and Mingyu are lying in bed together, both completely awake and listening to the sound of silence.

“The seal you’re making,” says Minghao, slowly, “it’s not a seal to control demons.”

“It’s not.”

“It’s not even a seal to capture demons.”

Mingyu doesn’t answer. He didn’t want it to happen like this. He wanted flowers and fireflies and possibly the stars, because Minghao deserves all of these things even if Mingyu is not sure he can give them to him. Mingyu wanted to keep the secret until the perfect moment, but Minghao has always been too smart for his own good.

“It looked like a...”

“It’s a set of twin runes. For me and you.” He takes a deep breath, hopes he doesn’t stutter or Minghao will never take him seriously. “I don’t want other demons. I don’t need other demons. I don’t want a seal I can put on any other demon. But I want to call you mine. I want to be yours.”

In the eerie silence of the room, Mingyu’s heart breaks with every beat, waiting to hear Minghao’s answer. He knows Minghao can hear it too, how violently it’s pounding, because he splays a hand on Mingyu’s chest, curls his fingers above Mingyu’s heart, and whispers something in Wickedtongue that Mingyu can’t understand, not anymore.

“What did you say?”

“I said yes.”

-

Minghao likes to fuck Mingyu when it’s dark, when Mingyu can’t see anything and he has to rely on Minghao’s warmth, on the weight of his mouth and hands, on the weight of Minghao’s cock inside him to find his sense of gravity again. Mingyu likes to complain that it’s not fair that he can’t see anything while Minghao can, but he also likes the thrill, the mental images his brain conjure to fill the blackness in front of his eyes. Minghao hovering above him, staring at him while Mingyu can’t stare back. It makes his skin prickle and his blood boil.

“You’re making such a stupid face,” whispers Minghao, shattering the illusion.

“Well, I don’t need to see your face to know it’s stupid,” retorts Mingyu, and Minghao thrusts into him faster, shallow, sharp jabs that make Mingyu bite his fist not to cry. “Come on,” he pants, he whines, words punctuated by tiny little gasps and broken moans, “make light for me Hao, wanna see your face.”

If he’s feeling good, Minghao summons fire illusions for him, golden and warm, and when their light finally carves his face out of the darkness, Mingyu can see how wrecked he is, sweaty and breathless, rosy cheeks and messy hair. He looks so pretty, so wild, a black fire burning in his eyes.

Sometimes, though, Minghao refuses to show himself. He shakes his head and clutches tight at Mingyu’s shoulders as he pounds inside him, and Mingyu can only wonder at his expression - whether his pupils are blown wide, drowning liquid gold in black, whether his brow is furrowed, his lips curled up to show his teeth, _what is it that he wants to hide in the darkness so that Mingyu can’t see it_.

Minghao whispers things against the Mingyu’s collarbone, words in Wickedtongue, and Mingyu really regrets having lost the seal to understand demon language. He wants to hear Minghao lose himself, on the edge of incoherence, he wants to be the one tipping him over that edge. 

When Minghao leads, it’s always so frantic, so desperate, push and pull, again, again, faster and harder, just like that. He leaves traces of himself on Mingyu’s skin, bruises and marks, fingertips on his hips, his teeth and lips on Mingyu’s neck and chest.

It’s too fast, too much. Mingyu doesn’t want it to be over. It’s not enough, he’ll never have enough of Minghao.

“Minghao,” he begs, when he starts to see the finish line, “slow down. Please slow down.”

But Minghao is a stubborn, wicked thing. He speeds up, making Mingyu gasp, bringing him closer, fitting his mouth over Mingyu’s upper lip and biting down when he comes and Mingyu gasps, shudders and comes too.

“You’re an asshole,” he says, as soon as he’s regained his breath. “I asked you to slow down.”

“I don’t like slow,” pouts Minghao. “Why should I wait to get something that is right in front of me?”

“You’re impossible,” exhales Mingyu, and if he wasn’t so tired he’d pinch Minghao’s side.

“Besides, my mom taught me to not play with my food.”

Mingyu pinches his side anyway.

-

Mingyu likes to fuck Minghao in the morning, at the first light of the day, when the sun pours through the window inside the room and makes Minghao’s hair shine gold, the same color as his eyes. He looks like an angel, spread on Mingyu’s sheets, hogging his pillow, taking up all the bed like he was born to do it. (He was. He was born to be an Incubus, to look his best on strangers’ beds and between their legs, but Mingyu doesn’t care. He can tear at the fabric of Minghao’s existence, gnaw at its frayed, loose ends like a hungry moth. He can sew everything back when he’s done dismantling it, this time remodeling Minghao’s life purpose and his own to fit together.)

Minghao opens his eyes slowly when Mingyu starts mouthing at his jaw, only to close them again with a pained groan. He tries to roll on the other side, away from the offending light, but Mingyu is still holding him tight, mouth working its way from Minghao’s collarbone to his mouth.

Minghao is a creature of the night and he’s at his weakest at dawn. The sun makes him soft, sleepy and pliant in Mingyu’s hands. Mingyu likes to fuck him when he can’t hide, when he’s too tired to hide and Mingyu can finally look at his face and memorize the tiniest twitches of his lips or the tightening of his jaw, every minute shift in his expression. He studies the way Minghao’s eyelashes flutter when he does something to his nipples, the way he cringes in discomfort when nimble finger trace the scars on his left side, how he always licks his lips after Mingyu’s kisses, chasing the lingering taste of Mingyu’s tongue. Mingyu wants to know what makes him happy and what makes him crazy.

“I’m an Incubus,” whines Minghao, always fed up with Mingyu’s endless foreplay. “You don’t have to make an effort, really. I like everything.”

It’s not true and Mingyu knows better than to trust Minghao’s words. Minghao is part Incubus and his instinct is to give pleasure, not to be pleasured. He doesn’t know how to react when Mingyu pushes his buttons, one after another. He probably didn’t even know he had those buttons until Mingyu found them for him.

Mingyu is not a fast learner, nor a natural, but he’s really dedicated to the cause of giving Minghao all the pleasure he deserves. He knows how to bite at the pointed tips of Minghao’s ears, where the boy is more sensitive, and stroke his cock until his legs fall open for him. He fingers Minghao for what feels like hours, taking his time to appreciate the way Minghao’s insides flutter and clamp down on his fingers like a vice until Minghao is past begging, past asking for more, until he can’t speak Wicked or any human language either.

Mingyu likes it slow, and Minghao hates it. He hates to be rendered speechless, he hates that he feels so weak in Mingyu’s arms, pulled apart at the seams, ripped at every edge. He holds onto Mingyu as if being with him is the only thing keeping him whole.

“Faster,” he begs, he sighs, pulling at Mingyu’s shoulders to get him to move faster, but Mingyu whispers, “Payback,” and keeps his hips steady, deep, slow thrusts, making sure Minghao can feel the weight of him between his legs - making sure he can feel Minghao shake because of it. Minghao scratches and bites and in the end he gives up, matches Mingyu’s impossibly slow pace, waits patiently for it to build and build. He comes on Mingyu’s stomach with a long, drawn moan, twitching and shuddering and clenching around Mingyu’s cock as he comes too.

He kicks Mingyu out of the bed when they’re done, hiding his red face and glossy eyes under the pillow.

“You’re impossible,” he exhales, and Mingyu laughs because he remembers saying something similar to him only a few hours before.

“I just want to make you happy.”

“Do I look happy to you?” Minghao’s voice comes distorted and muffled from under the pillow, and Mingyu pulls and pulls until he has Minghao lying under him, disheveled and blushing, glassy eyes, tender lips, chest heaving up and down as he regains his breath.

“You look the happiest to me.”

-

When Mingyu is twenty-five he meets Jinah again, during a hunt.

For a moment, she looks surprised to see him. Then her face turns suspicious and he realizes she never expected to see him hunting again. He expects her to corner him immediately, but Jinah waits until they’re both catching their breaths after chasing the impure demon out of a cave and banishing him.

“So where is he?” she asks. “Your demon.”

Minghao should be on his way home now. He left three days ago for Naxos, to deliver a message on Seungcheol’s behalf. Now that they’re on their own, Minghao cannot afford to stay at home so he works part time as a messenger for the Southern Guild. Since he can easily cross the Veil, the border between the worlds, he can travel faster than anyone else in the Southern Guild. He will never admit it, but he’s quite proud that he’s not only depending on Mingyu, but also helping him with the money.

Mingyu could tell her that. He could tell her Minghao is working hard, maybe even harder than Mingyu. He could tell her Minghao is not Mingyu’s pet, nor Mingyu’s tool. Minghao is his own person.

“You don’t want to tell me?”

“We’re not family. I don’t owe you an answer.”

It comes out too harsh and Jinah pales in rage, her lips tightening so much they almost disappear. Mingyu expects her to leave, but she doesn’t.

“I thought you had lost your seals,” she says. On her arms, the seals that once belonged to Mingyu - the demons that once belonged to Mingyu, demons he fought and won and sealed himself - glow for a moment, as if they recognize their own master. Mingyu knows better. Those seals belonged to his family, to one of the seven clans of Demon Masters in the Three Countries. They were never his own.

He shrugs. “I got new ones.”

“Where would you find new seals?” she asks, in disbelief. Family seals are sacred for the seven clans of Demon Masters and no one would reveal them easily to a stranger. She has every reason not to believe Mingyu.

“I made them myself.” With a little help from a talented Whisperer and a little half-blood demon, but Jinah doesn’t need to know that part.

She sighs. “You were always the most talented out of us. You should have become the new head of the family, not me.”

“It’s a little too late for that.” He smiles, a little bitter and a little tired, but she doesn’t smile back.

“Come home, Mingyu. Your parents miss you. Grandfather misses you. Everyone misses you. Please.”

Mingyu doesn’t know if they really miss him or they just miss the powerful Demon Master he was. 

“I won’t come home,” he says. “I can’t bring Minghao in that house and-”

“No one would care about what you do with your demon pet in the end.”

“I don’t want to bring Minghao in that house. And I’m not going anywhere without him. I’m not coming home, Jinah.”

She used to be so tall and big in Mingyu’s eyes, but now, defeated and dejected, she looks so tiny. Mingyu wants to hug her, to take all the weights off her shoulders and tell her to smile. For many years she was his rival, but she was also the cousin who played with him when he was young, endless afternoons of hide-and-seek and demons-and-masters.

“I never meant for things to go this way,” he says.

“Everyone thought it was just a phase. Grandfather thought you would’ve come back in a few weeks begging for mercy, but you went and made a new life and there’s no place for us anymore, right?” That’s... not true. Mingyu left on his own, but he always felt like they were the ones who didn’t left a place for him to come back.

“I’m not coming home, but you’re welcome to visit me anytime. Tell this to my mom... and dad. You can tell it to everyone.”

He holds her hand out and she reluctantly accepts it. He doesn’t know if this is an ending, or a new beginning, but at least it feels like closure, finally.

“There’s always a place for you in my home.”

-

Mingyu is twenty-three years old and he lives in a little flat with a bratty half-blood Incubus. They struggle to make ends meet, fight every day and have a lot of make-up sex. He doesn’t have a family anymore, but he still has a seal. It’s a seal he made on his own, a seal that only belongs to Mingyu and Minghao. It shines on Mingyu’s palm and, when they lock hands and intertwine their fingers, it fits perfectly with its other half on Minghao’s hand, finally complete.

It’s their own seal, the beginning of their own family. Minghao smiles and Mingyu’s life is perfect.


End file.
